Blackpool loanee has high hopes for this season

The Seasiders head into this afternoon’s clash against Fylde coast rivals Fleetwood Town enjoying a rich vein of form, having won seven of their last eight games.

Having recovered from a slow start to the campaign, Neil Critchley’s side now look to be up and running with the League One play-off spots in their sights.

“When I joined I felt really comfortable straight away, there was a really good team spirit,” the defender said.

“We all know we have a strong team and the competition for places is good, so the only thing that wasn’t going for us was the results.

“I think getting a few wins in a row and having a bit of consistency has given us that belief that when it gets to the 70th minute in games and it’s 0-0 still, instead of it going the other way we’re confident we’ll win the game.

“I think that comes with just playing with each other and getting that confidence, but we know we can beat any team in this league and we know we have a very strong team, so the sky is the limit.”

Blackpool’s recent run has included victories against promotion contenders Peterborough United and Portsmouth.

The only blot on their record came in last week’s 3-2 reversal at the hands of another fancied side in Doncaster Rovers.

“Even the game at Doncaster, we were so comfortable in the first half but it was just a bit of a freak game,” Ballard added.

“It’s not just that we know we can beat these teams, we believe we can outplay them too.

“We have been in charge of all of the games and we deserved to win them.

“It wasn’t necessarily freak results where we’ve nicked the wins, we’ve comfortably beaten them and deservedly so.

“As long as we’re putting in performances that are deserving to win every week, then the results will follow.”

Joey Barton’s Fleetwood, who sit eighth in the table and four points ahead of the Seasiders, stand between Blackpool and an eighth victory in nine.

While there might be local bragging rights at stake, Ballard insists he and his teammates won’t be treating this game any differently to normal.

“This is like every game really, we approach it the same way,” the 21-year-old said.

“Especially at this stage in the season, teams can be all over the place. Teams can be below you in the table on the back of a poor run of form but they can still be strong.

“We’ll treat it like any other game and we’ll work extremely hard.

“We know what we have to do and we’ll prepare the right way – and hopefully get another good result.”

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